Brett Ratner Desires to Make Sequel to Roman Polanski Documentary

“Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” is a film that methodically documents the director’s famous trial nearly thirty years later and the way in which it transformed into a scene out of one of his movies: the judge directing his own self-made script, the principle players standing in as the actors, the press attempting to cultivate the most prurient storyline, and the theme of an out of control trial corrupting all those involved. Just by virtue of its nature, the documentary involuntarily casts Polanski in a sympathetic light, revealing the divide between the distance and intimacy with which the Americans and Europeans respectively viewed him, but there is even more sympathy for justice, which had been trumped by the judge’s own personal pride, and the victim, who had to endure a trial she didn’t deserve.

In a recent interview for a Movie Geeks United podcast, which was taped hours before Polanski’s arrest in Zurich and will be available for download on October 4th, Brett Ratner explains that he plans to produce a sequel to the Marina Zenovich documentary. The New York Post quotes Ratner:

“The family has forgiven [Polanski]. The victim has forgiven him. The rest of the world has forgiven him,” said Ratner, who cast Polanski as a French detective in his movie “Rush Hour 3.” “The LA judicial system is corrupt. It’s horrible.”

The two filmmakers have developed an interesting bond. Just last year Polanski invited Ratner on a road trip through Poland (pictures at Heeb Magazine, via Cinematical) but did not tell him in advance that they were planning to visit Auschwitz in order to walk through the painful corridors of Jewish history. The trip was personal for Polanski, whose mother died in Auschwitz when he was young.

Polanski was finally arrested in Zurick last Saturday during the Zurich Film Festival after 31 years of exile. His latest film, “The Ghost”, which stars Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor, was in the midst of post-production but is now imperiled.

Variety quotes several foreign officials, and regardless of any opinion that one might have of Polanski’s arrest, I think that most people can agree with Zurich festival jury president Debra Winger, who said, after the event had been used to stage the arrest, “The whole art world suffers.”